Fire-escape tower



(No Model.)

l 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. 0. `NIELSENI -FI'RE ESCAPE TOWER.

No. 499,329. Patented June 13. 1893.-

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(No Model.) l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. A O. NIBLSBN.

FIRE ESCAPE TOWER.

No. 499,329 1 Patented June 13,1893.V

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(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet a.

0. NIELSBN.

FIRE ESCAPE TOWER. No. 499,329. Patented June 13,'.1893x (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.`

0. kNILLSEN.

EIEE ESCAPE TOWER. No. 499,329. Patnted June 13, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

OLAUS NIELSEN, OF EAU CLAIRE, VISCONSIN.

FIRE-ESCAPE TOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,329, dated J' une 13, 1893.

Y Application iiled November 25. 1892. Serial No. 452.995. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, OLAUs NIELsEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eau Claire, in the county of Eau Claire and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escape Towers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of' reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

My invention relates to improvements in fire escape towers.

The object of my invention is to provide al portable tower that may be extended upward to almost any height of buildings and carryV on an arm or davit a block and fall or rope by which a metallic bucket or carrier may1 be raised and lowered for saving people and other objects from a burning building, and also be of good service for the fire department in going up or down with the water hose and other tools used for extinguishing fire. I attain this object by the novel construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1, is a side elevation of my complete machine as it appears in its lowered down position. Fig. 2, is a front end elevationand Fig. 3, a rear end elevation of the complete machine lowered down as in Fig. 1.

. Fig. 4. Fig-6, is a partial sectional rear end elevation of the apparatus on the line b, b, in Fig. 4. Fig. 47, is a sectional side elevation of the machine as on the line c, c, in Fig. 4. Figs. 8, 9, 10, ll and 12, are detail views of certain parts and of tools used in connection with the apparatus. Fig. 13 is an edge View of the lower portion of Fig. 9.

Referring to the different parts in the drawings by numbers ot' reference, l, are the front Wheels, 2, the hind wheels, 3, the axles, and 4, the platform or body of a truck provided with a pole 5, having side braces 6, provided with hitching holes 7, for bitching horses to in Fig. 4, is a sectional top plan view on the line a, a, of-

transporting the truck. Upon the truck 4, about at the center of it I provide a tilting platform 49, hereinafter to be fully described. Upon said tilting platform I secure the lower end of a perpendiculartube 8, inside of which I place a series of telescoping tubes 9, 10, 11, 12, all of which are provided at the outer side of their lower ends with an annular ring or collar 13, which fits and slides snugly up and down in the next larger tube. The upper ends of the tubes, (except tube 12,) are provided with inwardly projecting rings or collars 14, in which the tubes 9, 10, 11, and 12 slide snugly and are prevented from coming` entirely out of each other by the contact of said .collars 14, with the upper sides of the collars 13. Upon the outside of the upper ends of the tubes are secured the collars 15, which by coming in contact with the upper end of the next larger tube limit the downward mot-ion of the tubes, to the desired position when the tower -is lowered; said collars 15, also serve the purpose of teeth for a pinion 21, to work on in elevating the tower, as will hereinafter be more fully described.

The collars 16, and 17, do not serve the purposes described for collars 15, but are merely for stiffening the upper ends of the two smallest tubes 12, and 23, and may also serve as ornaments on said tubes.

18 are stopping lugs Vprovided upon the tube l2, to prevent it from sliding farther down into the tube 1l than that the pinions 2l will engage with the racks 19, secured upon notches 22, (as shown inl Fig. 4,) forthe racks 19, to slide and guide up and down in.

23, is an upwardly projecting tubular eX- tension rigidly fixed upon the top of the tube In the top end of the extension 23, is journaled the perpendicular arm or shank 24, of a davit 25, provided with a rope sheave 27, pivoted at28,in aslot 29, in thehorizont-al arm 30, of said davit. 26, isa hood hinged at 31, so that it may be thrown back or raised out of the way for quick insertion of a rope as 32,

'two opposite sides of the said tube 12, as will IOO over said sheave 27, (see Fig. 9,) for hoisting things up and down as will presently be more fully described. The shank 24, of the davit is retained in the tower top 23, by a pin 33, engaging in an annular groove 34, of said shank (seeFigs. 6 and 9).

35 are braces secured at their upper ends to the arm 30, of the davit for supporting same; the lower ends of said braces 35, are secured to a half collar 36 resting upon the top of the tube 12, and swiveling around the top piece 23, when the davit is swung from one side of the machine to the other.

37, is a swivel hook provided in or near the free end of the arm 30, of the davit for holding the eyelet 38, formed at the end 39, of the rope 32.

40, is a flat spring secured at 41, to the under side of the arm 30. The free end of said spring has a slot tit-ting loosely over the hook 37.

When itis desired to remove the rope from the davit the spring 40, is .pressed upward so that the hook 37, can swivel below the slot. The hook is then turned sidewise,the eyelet 38, removed from it, and pulled out of the sheave 42, in the hood 43, which carries a swivel hook 45, adapted to engage in theeye 46, of the bail 47, of the elevator or escape bucket 48, (best shown in Fig. 8.) The rope end 38, after passing through the hood 43, is hauled over the sheave 27, and released from the davit. In replacing it on the davit the operation is just the reverse of that just described.

Near by and around the tube 8, I secure to the tilting platform 49, a frame consisting of the back and front frame castings or pieces 50, the braces 51, 52, 53, securing said frames 50, together, and a ring or collar 54, (see Fig. 1,) having projections 55, secured to the frames 50, by screws 56, passing through the frame 50, and being screw-threaded into the lugs 55; said ring 54, tits closely around the upper end of the large tube 8, and serves to give rigidity to both the tube 8, and the frame.

Upon the right and left sides of the apparatus I provide hoisting gears of so exactly alike construction that I need describe but one of them, which is as follows:- In the frames 50,1 journal a shaft 57,provided near its ends with gear wheels 58, secured thereon, and at the middle of the shaft I provide a rope holding hoisting drum 59, on to which the lower end 60, of the rope shown as 32, in Fig. 9, is extended, fastened and Wound. Upon one of the flanges of said drum I provide several hooks 61, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) upon which the eyelet 38, of the rope end 39, is hitched when removed from its hook 37, in the davit. Upon one end of the rope drum 59,1 provideaband brake 62, (best shown in Figs. l and 6,) secured with its lower end 63, upon the brace 5l, and having its upper end provided with a handle 64, for manipulating the brake. In

the lower edge of one end of the brace 51, I

pivot at 65, a bifurcated pawl 66, which engages with the teeth of one of the wheels 58, (as best shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 6;) the pawl being bifurcated into two jaws 67, may be swung to either side of the wheel 58, and engage it from turning according to which way the rope happens to be wound upon the drum.

The wheels 58 mesh with, and are operated by the large gear wheels 68, secured upon the shaft 69, journaled in the frames 50 and being provided upon both ends with hand cranks said shaft 69 is provided with rigid collars 7l (see Fig. 1) between which rest as springs the guiding ends 72 of the springs 73 which are formed of one piece and at the middle secured to the frames 50 by the pivot screws 74 (best shown in Figs. 2 and 3). When one of the said spring ends rests between said co1- lars 7l it holds the shaft 69in such a position that the gear wheels 68, mesh with the gear wheels 58, and if the spring end at the opposite end of the shaft 69 is let down between the collars 7l, the gears 58 and 68 disengage, as shown in Figs. l and 7; the spring end 72 when not in use as a shaft guide, is merely resting upon the shaft alongside of the groove between the collars 71. In either case the idle end of each spring by pressing upon the shaft 69, gives tension to the opposite end of the spring which rests in the groove between the collars 7l in the shaft 69, at the other side of the machine.

The large gear wheels 68, at one side of the machine mesh and are in constant engagement with the wheels 68, at the other side of the machine (as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3), except when it is desired to operate the drum 59 and wheels 58, by means of the gears 68, shaft 69 and crank 70. Then one of the shafts 69 is slid endwise till the wheels 68 disengage with their mates on the opposite side of the machine and also disengage with the wheels 75 and engage only with the Wheels 58 for hoisting up and dowh the bucket Fig. 8, after the tower is elevated to a desired height.

In order to release the shaft 69 quickly from the springs 72 when it is desired to slide the shaft endwise, I journal in the side frames 50 a rock shaft 76, provided near its middle with a handle 77, and at both ends outside the frames with rigidly fixed arms 78, which, when the handle 77 is swung forward away from the tube 8, assume a perpendicular position and thus, by their free ends lift the spring ends 72, out of engagement with the shaft 69.

In the upper corners of the frames 50, I journal the shaft 79, to which are secured the two gear wheels 7 5, operated by the gear wheels 68. Upon the shaft 79, I journal the side bars 80, of a tilting frame 81, in the upper corners of which I journal a shaft 82, carrying at its middle a rigidly secured pinion 21, having teeth or bars 20, engaging with the teeth of the racks on` the telescoping tubes of the tower. At the ends of the pinion 21, are

IOO

IZO

secured gear wheels 83, engaging with two gear wheels 84, secured upon the shaft 79.,l Thus the tilting vframe 80, is carried byshaft 79, and carries shaft 82, all in such relative position that the gears 68, 75, 84, 83 (see Fig. 1), are constantly in gear, driving the pinion 21, operating the rack bars and telescoping tubes, although the tilting frame 80, tilts with its upper end back and forth so as to give room for the different sized tubes to passup and down between the two pinions 21, which are held in contact with the racks by the U,- shaped springs 85, pivotally secured with their ends upon the ends of the pinion shaft 82, and tending at all times to hold the pinions against or in contact with the teeth on the racks on the tubes. When the pinions 21, are revolved by the cranks 70, and intermediate gears, as stated, the tube 12, is first elevated till its outside bottom collar touches under the inside top collar 14, of the tube 11. Then the springs 85, yield and the pinions 21 roll over upon the tube 11, using the outer top collar of same as the first tooth of the racks of said tube 11, which is then elevated, carrying the tube 12, above it until the lower end of the tube 11 is reached, when the pinions 21 use the outer top collar of tube 10, as the first tooth of the racks on tube 10, which is then elevated by the Vpinions acting on the racks, and so on with as many tubes as it is desired to elevate, or as many as there may be in the tower.

To prevent the tubes from sliding back down when the pinions 21 leave them androll upon the next larger tube,I provide the folf lowing locking and releasing mechanism: Each one of the sliding tubes is provided in its lower end with a bottom 86 (best shown in Figs. 6, 7, and in the detail View Fig. 10), having a pretty large square hole 87. At two opposite sides of said hole 87are secu red to the bottom 86, the two downwardly projecting brackets 88, in which I pivot the trip levers 89, the lower and inwardlybent ends of which are forced more or less apart by a wedge pointed rack bar 90, presently to be more fully described.

91, are U -shaped or semi-circular flat springs resting upon the bottoms 86, and with their ends hold the upper ends of the trip levers 89, forced outward so as to cause the sliding pins 92,.'pivotally secured to the upper ends of the levers'to move outward in the holes in which they slide in the collars of the tubes and engage with their outer ends in to holes provided for them in the upper end of the next larger tube, locking the two tubes together and leaving the lower ends of the levers to touch or nearly touch together (as best shown in Fig. 10), to the two opposite sides of the hole 87, to whichthe brackets 88, are not fastened. I secure the downwardly projecting guides 93, provided in their bottoms with a square hole 94, throughwhich the square bar 90 is guided, so that its wedgeshaped top end 106, will always meet the l59 and thesheave 27. Y

opening formed between the outward-bent bottom ends 95, of the trip levers 89. The lower portion of the bar 90, is provided upon one side with teeth 96,. engaging with a pinf ion 97, secured on a shaft 98, journaled in a bracket 99, secured to the inside of the lower end of the tube 8 (see Figs. 4 and 6). The shaft 98, extends out through one side of the tube 8, is journaled in one ofthe frames 50, and at its outer end it has secured to it a gear wheel 100, meshing with another gear wheel 101, journaled on a stud 102, secured in one of the frames 50, upon which is also pivoted a pawl 103, for holding said wheel 102 in any position that it may be set for holding the wedge-shaped rod 90, at the desired elevation. The wheel `102, is provided with two handles 104 for turning it by. The rodl 9 0 guides and slides also in a square hole 105 in. the upper platform of the truck, and passing freely through the lower platform, may be moved down almost to the ground, if so desired.

In operation the bar 90, is set to such a height that each and every pair of the levers 89, that is elevated high enough to let their lower ends 95 close upon the thin portion 106 of the bar, will thereby allow the springs 91 `to spread the upper ends of the levers and send the sliding locking pins 92 intov a locking contact with the next largertube until the last or lowest pair of the trip-levers reach said thin portion 106 and get. locked with the stationary tube 8. Now, when itcomesY-to lowering of the tubes itv is necessary to swing the lower ends of the trip levers outward before the dogs 92 can be withdrawn or unlocked. vTo do this the operator must take hold of the handles 104 and turn the wheels 101, 100, until the pinion 97, moves the heavy wedge part of the bar 90, up between the lowest pair of the lever ends 95, so that the heavy parallel p o'rtion of the bar spreads the levers. This unlocks the tube 9, and as the tower is loweredby the pinions 21and gears connect- IOS IIO

ing same,with the crank 70, duc., each pair of ing its function in elevating the tower the next time it is needed. v 107, (shown in Fig. 1) is a rope, guide Vpro-` vided upon the tilting frame 8l, for the rope.

32 to guide in, onits way between the 4drum To enable the operators to tilt or lean the tower partly over toward the vbui-ldingto be. reached, I provide upon the real truck-Vplat'-,

form 4, another and .smaller platform 49, to

which, as already stated, the, tower and its Y frame is secured. By suitable pivot pins 108, I secureto the tilting platform 4,9 two gear wheels 109, one at each ,Side ofthe tube 8. f

are handles provided upon said wheelsA for turning them. With each of said hand ward motion through the upper platform.`

These screws pass through somewhat larger holes in the lower platform and are screw threaded through the bars 114, the ends of which are loosely iitted into pocket bearings4 115, secured underneath the lower platform. Said bars have play enough in said pockets to rock slightly therein, when the wheels 109 are being turned so as to raise one side of the tiltingplatform by means of the screws 112 `partly up from the lower platform so as to tilt or lean the tower to either side.

116 are stick pockets secured underneath cach corner of the main truck for receiving downwardly bent supporting arms (see Fig. 1), the lower ends of which reach considerably over sidewise from the truck and are adjusted to the sidewalk or street by wedges 118, provided for overcoming the unevenness of the ground.

Upon the rear end of the truck body 4,1 provide a rigid tool box 119, provided with a hinged lid 122, for the men to stand upon in operating vthe machine. At the front end of the truck is a similar box 120 .with only a small hinged lid or cover 121, for covering the four-cornered hole 123 cut through the top plate 124 of the box 120. When the lid 121 is laid down as in Fig. 7, it forms together with the rigid cover 124 a platform for the` operator at the front part of the machine to stand on, and when the lid 121 is raised as in` Fig. 4, the opening 123 forms a hollow 125, for holding the lower portion of the elevator bucket 48, best shown in Fig. S, and `which consists of a four-cornered tub or bucket 48, with the rigid bail 47, and eye 46, adapted to go on the hook 45, as already above described. In the views, Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the bail 47, is provided with a pair of horns 126, upon which the nozzle end of a fire hose may be engaged so as to be elevated with the bucket while the firemen stand inside the bucket. The bucket is further provided inside of two of its upper corners with spring clasps (not shown) for holding the tire hook 127, and the ax 128 in such arnanner that they may be pulled out quickly from between the spring clasps and the corners of the bucket.

129 V(shown in the rear sectional view Fig. 8), is a seat provided in one end of the bucket intended especially for persons to sit on, who are overcome by smoke or fright when being saved from a burning building.

130 is a door Vopening for walking in and out of the bucket. This opening is closed by a sliding door 131, sliding with its upper and lower ends in grooved rails or guides 132, 133, secured at the inner side of the front wall134 of the bucket. To the lower end of the door is secured a horizontal strip 135, having secured at its end, an upright, slotted arm 136,

in the slot of which slides the angularly bent end 137, of the arm 138, which is rigidly secured to the end of a grooved metallic strip 139, at an angle of about one hundred and twenty degrees with same. At the junction of the strip 139 and the arm 138, I pivot at 140 the strip 139 to the front bucket-wall134, so the strip may be raised as at 141, or closed as shown in dotted lines 142, and in full view in Fig. 2. When the strip 139 closes and fits with its groove over the top edge of the front wall 134 (as shown in Fig. 1), the arm 138, acting in theslotted bar 136 closes the sliding door, and by raising the strip 139, the arm 138 will push the door open as shown in Fig. 8.

The small hook and ladder shown in Fig. 11, and partly in Fig. 12, consists of an upper section 143, provided with hooks, 144, and steps 145. This section is pivoted at 148 in a groove, 146, formed in the adjacent end of the lower ladder section 147, which is also provided with steps 145; the upper section 143 may be folded upon the lower section 147, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11, and theladder thrown into the bucket 48, `till the tireman has reached the roof of abuilding, when he unfolds it ltill the joint 148 stops as astop joint and keeps the "ladder from bending too far backward, while the roof over the top of which its hooks 144 are hitched, prevents it from foldingthe other way.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fire apparatus the combination with a truck body mounted on four wheels, of the tilting platform 49, having pivoted to it the gear wheels 109, provided with handles 110, the gear wheels 111, meshing with said hand wheel and having screws as 112, with collars, as 113, by which to lift or tilt the tilting platform, the rocking bars 114, secured looselyin pocket-bearings below the main platform or truck body, and having screw threaded holes for the screws 112 to work in fortilting or leaning vpartly over an upwardly extensible tower secured upon said tilting platform,'the stick pockets 116, secured at each corner of the truck body the downwardly bent sticks or arms 117 inserted in said pockets, the wedge shaped blocks 118, placed between the free ends of the sticks 117, and the ground, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose speciied.

2. In a fire apparatus and mounted on a tilting platform upon a four-wheeled truck, the combination with a series of telescoping tubes forming an extensible tower, each of the sliding tubes having racks 19, secured upon two opposite sides of it, of a frame work secured upon the tilting platform and to the large and stationary tube in which the other tubes are contained, the two trains of gear wheels mounted in said frame work at opposite sides of the tower, but having gear wheels as 68, by which the two trains of wheels may be oper- IOO ated in unison, or separately as desired,the j tilting frames 81,'pinions 21, mounted therein and meshing with the teeth of the rack bars on the telescoping tubes, the springs 85, for

automatically adjusting the pinions 21 to the racks of the diterent sizes of the telescoping tubes. The hand cranks 70, for operating said trains of wheelsand means for engaging and disengaging the two trains of gear wheels from each other, and means for -guidlng and locking the tubes to each other, and for unlocking them, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a fire apparatus and mounted on a wheeled truck the combination with a telescoping tower and frame, carrying shafts, gear wheels and cranks for elevating or lowerlng the tubes by means of racks upon the tubes engaging with the gearwheels, with the stopping lugs 18,- for keeping the smallest tube always partly elevated, the tower top piece 23, the davit 25, journaled therein, and

vhaving the sheave 27, hinged hood 26, swivel hook 37, hoisting rope 32, secured with one end on the hook 37, and after passing through a sheaved hood as 43, passes over the sheave 27, and thence down to a hoisting drum as 39, secured on a shaft journaled in the same frame as the gears that elevate the tower and is provided with gear wheels as 58, into contact with which a gear wheel as 68, may be thrown for operating the drum, by the same cranks 70, that are at other times used for elevating the tower; the rock shaft 76, handle 77, arms 78, and spring guides 72, 73, the guiding collars 71, for retaining said cranks 70, and wheels 68, in two difterent engagements with other gear wheels; the hook locking and rope-retaining. spring 40, the rope guide 10,7, the drum brake 64, the bifurcated pawl 66, the hood 43, having a swivel hook as 45, and a metallic bucket as 48, suspended thereon, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose specified. y

4. In a hoisting bucket for iire escapes or fire apparatus, the combination with the fourcornered bucket 48, having the rigid bail 47, with a hole or eye as 46, in it, of the side openin g or gate 130, the sliding door 131, guiding in strips as 132,133, at ytop and bottom, said door having at its bottom a horizontal arm as 135, extending across and beyond the door opening where it is extended upward and has a slot as 136, in which engages an arm as 138, forming a rigid extension, of a groovedgate bar 139, pivoted to the front wall of the bucket and by the rising or closing of which the door 131, is opened and closed, the seat 129, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a telescoping tower and mounted upon a suitable truck, the combination of the stationary tube 8, and a series of dierent sized tubes as 9, 10, 11, 12, sliding into each other, with the locking and unlocking mechanism consisting of the stop collars 13, 14, 15, and the locking pins 92, passing through holes in said collars; the centrally open bottoms 86, secured to the lower ends of the tubes, the brackets 88, secured to said bottoms, the trip levers 89, pivoted in said brackets and having their 'upper ends pivotally connected with the locking pins, 92, the springs 91, pressing outward against the upper ends of the levers, the wedge-pointed rod 90, adapted to spread or allow the closing by springs ot' lthe lower ends 95, ot' the said trip levers 89, according tothe location ot' the levers either upon the heavy body of the bar or upon its thin point 106, said bar 90, having a short rackat one side and a pinion as 96, secured on ashaft as 98, journaled in a bracket as 99, secured inside the lower end of the stationary tube 8;

said shaft 98, extending out through the wall of the tube and being provided with a gear wheel as 100, meshing with a hand-operated wheel as 101, having a pawl as 103, engaging with the teeth of it for securing the bar 90,

at the desired heights for raising orlowering- Witnesses:

OSCAR GARDEEN, OSCAR LIN-DQUIsT. 

